New year, new year’s resolutions (OK a bit belated, but I am just getting going). I have three targets for this year and over the year I will report on my progress.

The first is (rather boringly) to try to do one hours exercise a day. Age and too much good food make it a necessity. So far, my record is patchy. Most days I manage at least half an hours walking and two or three days a week I manage to do an hour. But other days it just does not seem to happen and given I live in Valencia I cannot use the weather as an excuse. I’ve always resisted the Fitbit type devices but I’ve finally been persuaded to try installing am Android pedometer. I am curious whether I will love it or hate it (or, more likely, just forget about it.

Living in Valencia drives me to the second resolution – to learn Spanish. Last year I signed up for a course but gave up after about eight lessons. Basically, the course was following a text book with weekly lessons on Spanish grammar. Not my way of learning. Now I have a new book, called Hacking Spanish, which seems a better way to do things. The difficulty is once more putting aside an hour a day to learn.

Target number three is related to this blog. I have written over 1500 articles on the Wales wide Web spanning more than 10 years. Yet last year I found it harder and harder to commit myself to (electronic) print. There were a few reasons, I think. The main one was that I had a research and writing intensive government contract which I was not allowed to publish without permission. After a long days writing, the idea of blogging about something different was just too much. We also want to relaunch the Pontydysgu web site this year. After ten years the design is looking a little jaded! We have a new design set up and we are beginning to populate the site. More details on this to follow quite soon I hope

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News Bites

Teenagers online in the USA

According to Pew Internet 95% of teenagers in the USA now report they have a smartphone or access to one. These mobile connections are in turn fueling more-persistent online activities: 45% of teens now say they are online on a near-constant basis.

Roughly half (51%) of 13 to 17 year olds say they use Facebook, notably lower than the shares who use YouTube, Instagram or Snapchat.

The survey also finds there is no clear consensus among teens about the effect that social media has on the lives of young people today. Minorities of teens describe that effect as mostly positive (31%) or mostly negative (24%), but the largest share (45%) says that effect has been neither positive nor negative.

Robots to help learning

The TES reports on a project that uses robots to help children in hospital take part in lessons and return to school has received funding from the UK Department for Education.

TES says “The robot-based project will be led by medical AP provider Hospital and Outreach Education, backed by £544,143 of government money.

Under the scheme, 90 “tele-visual” robots will be placed in schools and AP providers around the country to allow virtual lessons.

The robot, called AV1, acts as an avatar for children with long-term illnesses so they can take part in class and communicate with friends.

Controlling the robot remotely via an iPad, the child can see and hear their teacher and classmates, rotating the robot’s head to get a 360-degree view of the class.

It is hoped the scheme will help children in hospital to feel less isolated and return to school more smoothly.”

Pendergast says: “As the WordPress community, we have an extraordinary opportunity to shape the future of web development. By drawing on the past experiences of WordPress, the boundless variety and creativity found in the WordPress ecosystem, and modern practices that we can adopt from many different places in the wider software world, we can create a future defined by its simplicity, its user friendliness, and its diversity.”

Adult Education in Wales

Learning and Work Institute is organising this year’s adult learning conference in partnership with the Adult Learning Partnership Wales. It will take place on Wednesday, 16 May 2018 at the Cardiff City Stadium.

They say “Changing demographics and a changing economy requires us to re-think our approach to the delivery of learning and skills for adults. What works and what needs to change in terms of policy and practice?

The conference will seek to debate how can we respond to need, grow participation, improve and measure outcomes for citizens, and revitalise community education.”